468,269 Shares in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB Acquired by Danske Bank A S

Danske Bank A S acquired a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 468,269 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $35,879,000.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WRB. Compass Financial Services Inc bought a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley during the second quarter valued at $27,000. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley in the second quarter valued at about $34,000. Triumph Capital Management purchased a new stake in W.R. Berkley in the third quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in W.R. Berkley by 40.2% in the third quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 523 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the period. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co L. Mitsui bought 370,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 26th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $67.07 per share, with a total value of $24,815,900.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider directly owned 54,959,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,686,133,933.28. This trade represents a 0.68% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders bought 9,729,512 shares of company stock valued at $673,956,305 in the last three months. Company insiders own 23.30% of the company’s stock.

W.R. Berkley Trading Down 2.4%

NYSE WRB opened at $67.22 on Thursday. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 12-month low of $62.63 and a 12-month high of $78.96. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $69.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $72.02. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a market cap of $25.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.35.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 26th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $3.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.18 billion. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.10% and a return on equity of 18.17%. W.R. Berkley’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.13 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 23rd were issued a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 23rd. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. W.R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on WRB shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of W.R. Berkley from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 7th. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $64.00 price target (down from $73.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley from $69.00 to $66.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley set a $73.00 price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their target price on W.R. Berkley from $69.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, W.R. Berkley currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $69.67.

W.R. Berkley Profile

W. R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE: WRB) is a publicly traded insurance holding company that underwrites and sells commercial property and casualty insurance, specialty insurance products, and reinsurance. Headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut, the company operates a portfolio of underwriting businesses that focus on niche and specialty commercial risks, offering coverage tailored to industries such as transportation, construction, professional services and other commercial lines.

The company’s product mix includes primary and excess casualty, property, professional liability, environmental and other specialty lines, together with treaty and facultative reinsurance solutions.